Candy's dandy, but Liquor is quicker
by Evaldas
Summary: [Fluff Fiction]: How will Vincent cope when reality hits him after Meteor? He finds things are a little different then they were 30 years ago. At least he still has his red cape and popcorn.
1. Chapter 1 Middle of Nowhere

**Author's note**: Now I cannot fully recall what inspired this bit of insanity, but part of it was the realization that Vincent would have a big problem with going to the doctor's office (white lab coats and needles…). However, the more I discussed it with a friend, the more it became a story in which Vincent has a reality check and realizes he is no long in the same time he knew. I wanted to see how he would react to new technologies and how he would cope with the new challenges. The big one being how would he support himself once the hero business was done. Since I have not seen Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus has yet to be released, they will not affect this story line.

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Chapter 1- Middle of Nowhere 

Staring out the car window, Tifa watched the landscape outside rolled away in a blinding whirl of blurred trees and patches of green fields. Everything of the previous year seemed nothing like but a wild blur not a dream but a terrible nightmare. However, she was alive and had her health, which was something she could not say for another person.

Huddled in the backseat of the car, Vincent remained sunken behind the deep collar of his cape. He coughed several times before he sunk down against the side of the car. Sighing, Tifi glanced over at Reeve as he drove the car. It took a little deception, but it was only for his good. All she could figure is it started when Jenova finally died and the brief visit to Wutai to drop Yuffie off. Of all the things Vincent and the group had faced; the irony was that he was slowly being taken down by a common childhood illness. _'I guess after thirty years of isolation, disease would become your worst enemy.'_ The clincher it seemed after Jenova was destroyed so was the support system "she" gave him.

After Vincent's initial reaction to the suggestion of a doctor, Reeve suggested another option. Sure, it was no problem to get the man into the car, but it would be an even harder ordeal to get him into a doctor's office.

Vincent closed his eyes trying to sleep despite feeling like the lining of his throat was going to peel away_. 'Like I need to speak to shoot anyways. All I need is a little sleep.' _Reeve and Tifa urged him that he needed to get his strep throat treated, but he merely shrugged it off_. ' As if I am going to set foot anywhere close an office or a needle! If it wasn't for that stupid wutai kid who coughed on me, this wouldn't be an issue.'_ He glanced over and saw the slacken form of Cait sith next to him. _'Not too bad for being an oversized stuffed animal, it did a lot of damage.'_

"How are we doing back there?" Reeve inquired while looking into the rearview mirror. Vincent scowled behind the deep collar.

"Fine." He squeaked in response before he closed his eyes. Reeve looked over at Tifa briefly before returning his attention back to the narrow two-lane road.

Reeves pulled the parking break and sat for a moment behind the steering wheel.

"Well, here we are, Tifa. You ready for this?" He whispered. She glanced over at him and nodded her head.

"We have faced far worse before. If we could take down Sephiroth, then certainly we can handle this."

"Is he disarmed?"

"Yep." Reeve then smiled." If you grabbed his other hand, Caith Sith will grab his claw and we should be able drag him in from there."

Quietly they opened the their doors and stepped out into the parking lot. Reeves opted to take a place that hid the office front until at the door. Tifa knocked on the back window and waited for a moment. A pair of red eyes looked back at her from behind the high red collar of his cloak. Vincent opened his door and stepped out. He shuddered finding the air outside quite a bit cooler then where he was in the backseat. With his unarmored hand, he pulled at the edges of cape hoping to retain what little warmth he had left. Reeve was already on the sidewalk waiting. He hated the idea of putting Cait Sith in the way of Vincent's claw, but he rather have Cait Sith be destuffed then he or Tifa.

The gunman stiffened up and peered at Tifa and then at Reeves. "Why are we here? And how come you're not armed…?" Before Vincent could say anymore, Cait Sith came up from behind and bear hugged the man. Vincent yelped and tried to fight free from the hold, but only ended up in a fit of coughing.

Reeves winced knowing he will have to clean the mog after this.

Sulking in the chair, Vincent glared at Reeve and Tifa. She only offered a weak smile and shrugged.

"It could be worse." Cait Sith offered.

Vincent growled. He felt he had been deceived in the worst way. Of all the places he hated to be, it was a clinic. It was not just the florescent lights, but also the smell and the white uniforms and coats. Vincent glanced back at the glass front entrance of the clinic and began complicating thoughts of escape. Glancing back, he found Reeve had gone to the counter and was talking with the secretary.

_'Here's my chance.'_ Vincent had only lifted an inch from the chair when he felt himself turn back around and seat himself back down.

Reeve smiled finding that he could easily manipulate the gunman to behave himself, but it was not necessarily easy to hold it though. Taking the blue clipboard the woman gave him, Reeve returned and handed it to Vincent.

"They need your information."

Vincent only glared, not even bothering to take the clipboard and pen.

_: You are going to take the board and fill it out:_

Vincent complied without resistance despite part of him rebelling. Taking a few minutes, he filled out the form and handed it back to Reeve. Taking it back to the desk, Reeve glanced over it and stopped. Did he read the date right? Reeve almost laughed seeing the date Vincent had put down. _'Still stuck in the past are we?'_ He passed the board to the secretary.

"You will have to forgive my friend, he's suffering from some serious jetlag."

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. Reeve came back and sat down.

"This is going far too easy." Tifa mumbled.

After a brief while of waiting, a young nurse dressed in black slacks and white lab coast came out into the waiting room. Her dark hair was tied back in a casual ponytail while her bangs were swept to one side. She flipped through a few sheets before looking back up.

"Vincent?" She called out. He peered over the top of his collar and saw the nurse. In a brief moment of delirium, he mistook the woman for someone he knew all too well.

"I'm here!" He croaked as he rose out of his chair. The woman gave him a cautious overlook and then checked the board. Vincent tried to swallow and quickly realized it wasn't who it he thought he saw. His eyes then fell on someone who paused a short distance behind her and just about made him jump from his skin. Seeing the short black hair, round glasses and coat, Vincent had only one impulse and that involved him running to the front door.

Cait Sith hopped over and stood between the gunman and the door. The little cat doll crossed its arms and shook it's head. Vincent snarled threatening to force his way through only to stagger backwards as a wave of dizziness washed over him.

"He doesn't get out often, does he?" The nurse commented as they watched Vincent. Reeve sighed and shook his head.

"This is the most he has been out in the past thirty years."

The nurse chuckled and walked down the hallway mistaking Reeve's comment as an actual joke. Reeve turned his attention to how he was going to get Vincent into the exam room.


	2. Chapter 2 Pretty Blonde Noisse

_Author's Note:__ This title is based off of a letter a friend had of her grandfather back in WW2. He mentioned his dream of being treated by a pretty blonde noisse. If I recall, he did get his wish. Considering the story, I thought it would be funny and give a nod to a cool man I never got to meet._

_I also wanted to make note that I will be making minor references to the events in When the Sun sets in Ardea, when Vincent makes in comparisons with current events in the story with what he knew. Just an FYI._

-------------------------------------- Chapter 2- Pretty Blonde Noisse 

The remaining people who sat in the waiting room stared at the spectacle. Cait Sith stood near the doorway encase Vincent made for the door again. Tifa and Reeve stood in the hallway each with a foot trying to drag Vincent toward the room. Reeve could not help to realize how much it was like someone trying to drag a cat to a tub of water.

"Isn't this a little beneath you, Vincent? It's just a doctor; two minutes!" Tifa complained as her feet slipped slightly against the thin carpet.

"That's two minutes too long!" Vincent protested. Seeing an open doorway, he reached for it with his gauntlet and hung on. What little progress Reeve and Tifa made suddenly came to a stop. Looking at each other and giving a silent count, they threw what they could and pulled. Vincent's grip, not matter how hard he tried, began to slide along the pastel walls, his claw dragging.

One of the waiting patients watched with a mixture of fear and curiosity. Soon, Vincent disappeared from sight. After further struggle, they somehow managed to get him into one of the exam rooms.

Vincent's red eyes scanned the white room with speculation. Several posters about hygiene and the side section of the throat hung on the wall. A small table covered with a strip of white paper sat in the far corner surrounded by several chairs, a rolling side table and sink and cabinets. He hated being in the room, but he hated his fear even more. He knew no true harm was going to come upon him while he was there. Vincent first hand knew Hojo was long since dead; that he made sure of. So what was he so afraid about?

Reeve, Tifa and Caith Sith stood outside the room waiting to see what would happen next. To their amazement, Vincent did not move far from where he stood. Finally, a young redheaded man dressed in a white lab coat walked past them carrying a clipboard. He nodded to them and entered the room where Vincent stood.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Valentine. I'm Dr. Roth." The doctor shut the door. At first it was quiet and that was then it began.

A little blonde boy's eyes went wide he heard the door pounding and pleading for help. To him, it sounded like what he had feared about his visit to the doctor. Everyone else looked over toward where Tifa and Reeve stood, murmuring. Tifa shrugged trying to ignore Vincent's shrieking cry for help. With the combination of the pounding, scraping and his scratching, strained voice one could almost believe someone was actually being murdered.

"Should we go in there?"

Reeve looked at Tifa and then at the door. "We probably should..." Before he could say more, the doctor quickly dodged out holding the door shut behind him.

"I am going to need my nurse for this one." He muttered and then looked at the group in the hallway. "Is your friend post-traumatic or something?"

"He's just hasn't been out for a while."

The doctor gave the odd group a scrutinizing look. "Maybe you two or three can go in there and calm him down." The doctor then ducked into a side room. "Gees, ever since Meteor, I swear every weirdo has crawled out from under the rocks." He mumbled as he called for his nurse to meet him at the front desk.

Tifa looked back and found the exam room had finally fallen silent. "I'm going in." She mentioned as she approached the door. Knocking, she slowly turned the knob and slipped inside.

Reeve stood silently and waited. He and Cait sith looked at each other and then at the exam room door. Reeve finally opened the door and found Vincent seated down on one of the chairs with Tifa perched up on the small skin counter. The red eyed gunman seemed strangely silent despite his earlier display of objection.

Not a moment sooner, the door opened again, this time by the doctor and his nurse. Reeve took note of the nurse in her tight white outfit and fluffed blonde hair. She was dressed more for show then for actual function.

It took all Vincent's courage to remove himself from the chair he sat on to move to the exam table the doctor has directed him to. "As I mentioned earlier, this will be a simple physical exam. I just want to look at a few things before we go any further. Now your record shows it has been a while. Is there any reason for that?"

Vincent pulled his eyes away from the nurse for a moment to the doctor. _'I suppose I could tell him that after I had been injected by alien cells and locked in a coffin for thirty years, I just didn't see a reason to come in.'_ "No." He decidedly answered.

The doctor frowned for a moment as he jotted a few notes down. Vincent was then asked to remove him shoes, cape and claw so he could be weighed. He fought it for a moment, especially the claw, but managed to remove the required articles. Those were then handed to his companions to hold. After so much time, Vincent for the first time actually saw his left arm. All he saw was pale, dingy skin and a vague purple scar just above where a needle had consistently been placed.

Further examination became a blur in his fever-induced state. His eyes drifted from one thing to another until they settled back on the nurse.

"I need your to open your mouth, sir."

Tearing his eyes away, Vincent looked at the doctor. It was a simple command and Vincent reasoned with himself that he could do it. _'All he wants to do is look at my throat. There are no needles involved. The sooner you let him do that, the sooner you can get out of here.'_ However, what reasons he gave himself, when it came to actually doing it, his mouth would not open. His phobia ultimately won. After several tries, he managed allow the doctor to look.

The doctor left the room leaving his nurse behind. She had already begun to prepare the shot of penicillin that was directed to be given to him.

"How long have you and your friends been in the theatre business?"

Vincent only shrugged, his attention being drawn to her partial unbutton white blouse. Finding he was staring, Vincent forced his eyes back up to her face. It had been a while since he had seen a woman who wore a white blouse like Lucrecia did.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?"

Blinking, he looked at where she had pushed his black sleeve up and given him his shot. _'Damn, she's good. I didn't even notice.'_

The doctor returned with a prescription and directions.

Back in the car, Vincent sucked on the cough drop he had been given silently. He knew he had been sick, but never realized how sick he really was. _'I am sure after that little stunt, they probably thinking they should have taken me to the shrink first before the doctor. But I warned them.'_ He pulled his red cape around himself tightly and let his head rest against the side of the car.

Tifa watched as the neon and billboard lights flashed by as they left one sector of Midgar to another. Feeling her stomach growl with hunger, she looked over at Reeve.

"Should we get something to eat? I know Sunshine back there needs to eat something before he takes his happy pill."

Vincent growled. "It's Mr. Sunshine."

Tifa glanced back. "Oh good, I think he is returning back to his normal somber self."

Vincent let his head drop down behind the deep collar of his cape.

"I suppose we should. I am rather hungry myself." Reeve answered as the car came to a stop at the traffic light. There were several places they could stop before they reached his apartment. The best choice would be Burger Miester, but the thought of dragging Vincent into a crowded, busy place like that seemed to summon up very unpleasant images. First there would be the problem with kids wanting to pull on Vincent's cape. _Vincent smash_ would be the initial reaction. Then there would be just general people, same kids, but with snotty noses and noise resulting in another _Vincent smash._ And then there is the whole thing of the possible indecision of what Vincent would what to eat...then it would be _Reeve smash._

Shaking his head, the car started up again down the road. "Let order take-out. There is a decent Wutai place nearby."


	3. Chapter 3 That Funky Car smell

Chapter 3- That funky car smell 

Reeve sighed to himself as he found his apartment building was still in one piece. There were only a few sectors that survived the chaos, and thankfully his was one of them. Walking down the carpeted hallway, he withdrew his keycard and slid it through the small card slot above the doorknob.

Once hearing the lock click, he opened the door and touched the small touch pad on the wall. The entry and main room filled with an ambient, soft light. Reeve stepped into the main room when a mangy gray tabby cat greeted him. The rest of the group entered behind Reeve. Tifa looked down to find the one of two cats circling Reeve's pant leg. Bending down, she reached for the second cat and found it was eager for her attention. The second cat was just as mangy as the first, except it lacked the tabby stripes being only a solid gray color. Picking the animal up, the cat purred and sniffed Tifa curiously.

Reeve smiled seeing his two pets. "The one you are holding is Isis and her brother is down there is Osirius." Reeve walked over to the breakfast bar and opened a small plastic container that held cat treaties. "I found them as abandon kittens. I saw them once and ended up coming home with them. Huh, Sirius?" He held a treat above the cat's nose getting the cat to dance in circles.

Vincent was less then amused by the animals. He never had much love for animals, but at least he could tolerate cats. The gunman surveyed the apartment with a slight amount of curiosity. At first nothing seemed much different then he last remembered being any Shinra operated structure except for the taste in furniture. He let his right hand touch soft texture of the couch he stood next too.

His eyes then drifted to the suit of armor that stood opposite of the front door. Peering, Vincent moved closer to it, inspecting the etched detail on the breastplate. His then slipped down to the gauntlets that clutched the broad handle of a shortened halberd. His eyes saw the faint apartment light catch on the sharpened edge of the weapon_. 'I am impressed, it is actually...sharp.' _Though he was not sure if that was necessarily a good thing.

"I paid only three hundred gil for that suit."

Vincent looked up to see Reeve addressing him. Finding the gunman was not going to say anything more Reeve decided to show him where to he could sleep and the shower. For the short period of time they had spent in his apartment, he realized the strange moldy smell was not the doctor's office or the car. It was more like transient and mothballs.

Loosening his tie, Reeve gestured Vincent to follow him.

Tifa hung back only half-listening to Reeve tell Vincent about towels, spare clothes and other necessities.

"Excuse me!" Tifa step to the side as Cait Sith hopped by on the back of the mog into a side room. Curious to see where they were going, Tifa pushed the door open and turned on the light. She found the room filled with dolls. Three of the four walls held large glass display cabinets that held dolls and puppets. She approached one case and found a various arrangement of porcelain dolls, some made of wood while others seemed exotic with large empty eyes and shrunken bodies. Then there were also marionettes and other puppets peppered throughout the display cases.

Caith Sith opened a closet door on the remaining, bare wall and squeezed inside and shut the door. _'Marleen could use a few toys that would put themselves away like that.'_ Tifa could not help but feel a little weirded out about the room. _'Why a man like him have such a collection? Though I suppose it's not too weird, at least it isn't like collecting potato chips with saints' faces. I am sure he had spent a fortune collecting some of these.'_

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Tifa looked down and found the little cat doll jumping at her feet.

"I was just looking at the collection." Tifa was still baffled at how Reeve can not only control and speak through the doll and yet be in another place talking with another person.

"Pretty cool huh?"

_'What? The collection or Reeve's attention span?' _"It is quite expansive." Tifa finally responded.

"You can sleep in here. I have a futon with some blankets if you like that."

Vincent entered the room and looked briefly over the small set of bookshelves and the small desk next to them. His eyes drifted over the futon and froze on the closet, or at least he assumed had to be the closet. The door were two large mirrors, mostly to help make the room feel more spacious, but Vincent did not see space, but a strange thing staring back at him.

He leaned in close unsure what he saw. His instinct was to fight it, and then realized it was merely the reflection of him.

"You have seen a mirror before right?" Reeve inquired from the door.

"Yes, I just never thought I look quite...like this." In his mind he thought he still looked like he did thirty years ago; in the suit, his hair short far much shorter and well, not quite as pale. He could not help but to feel awkward and felt a just a tinge of shame. How did let himself go like that? The clothing he wore was suddenly unfamiliar and alien despite running around in for the past couple of years. The cape he did not mind much, but it was the gauntlet and the boots that seemed odd and cumbersome. Then it dawned on him, it's was Hojo! It was all Hojo. _'That sick little man played dress-up with me while I was out. What else did he do?' _Vincent shuddered at the possibilities.

"Thank you for the tour and your hospitality. If it is well, I would like to shower. I have 30 year old Hojo cuddies to wash off." Vincent walked past Reeve and shut the bathroom door.

Reeve gave a sigh of relief. This time they did not have to drag him kicking and screaming.

Drying his hair with a towel, Vincent took a first real look at himself without the headband or collar. For once, he actually saw his face, pale as it seemed, but it was his face. _'No wonder Lucrecia wasn't too sure of me back in the cave. I would be too if I were in her shoes.'_ He glanced back and saw his old clothes lying crumpled on the floor, still holding the form. _' Maybe Reeve had a point about my clothes walking away. I am almost convinced myself.'_ Curious, he picked up his pants and examined them. For being as old as they were, the material held together well. However, looking closer, he found the seams were pulling apart among other holes and tears that were forming. He sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. He sniffed his skin and found he smelled only soap. He then inspected the discarded clothes and found them to be culprit_. "My word that smells bad, something like old books and sweat. I appreciate people being polite, but I would have appreciated a little honesty more, like… "Oh hey, Vincent, you stink!" '_

Dropping rumbled garments back down on the floor, his eyes turned to the fresh set of clothes Reeve loaned him.

_'It seems like only yesterday I wore something quite similar.'_ He fingered the stiff collar of the dress shirt. It almost seemed everything was normal, like it was before everything fell apart. _'Like those sorry pants.'_

Still feeling sick and miserable, he put on the change of clothes and the picked up what was left on the floor before leaving. Turning off the light, Vincent stepped out into the hallway, nearly tripping over the little black and white Cait Sith doll. Vincent glared at it in silence. Caith sith scrambled back nearly avoiding the gunman's feet.

"Hey watch it!" Caith sith stated looking up at Vincent. "Ya know, ya don't clean up half bad."

Vincent sighed, slowly swallowing. "It's not proper for grown men to talk or _play _with dolls." Turning, he left the doll and walked down to the spare room where Reeve had set up for him to sleep in. Dropping the clothes, he turned and entered the main part of the apartment. He found Tifa sitting on a barstool while Reeve stood in the kitchen with a couple of glasses.

Tifa glanced over and her eyes went wide. "You mean, there was someone actually underneath all that hair?" She teased. Vincent's face remained flat. Walking over, he pulled out another stool and sat down. Reaching over the counter, Vincent picked up the white paper bag and dumped out the small amber bottle of pills.

"What's that?"

Vincent glanced over. "What's what?" He grumbled.

Tifa pointed at her eyelid. "On your left eye, there's a scar."

Feeling self-conscious, he kept his eyes on the medicine instructions. "It's nothing." He reached over to his left arm and pulled down at his shirtsleeve to make sure covered despite they had already seen the needle scars that Hojo had left.

Reeve gave him a quick glance before tossing him a few crackers and a glass of water. He also saw the small scar Tifa pointed. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn he had seen that with some people who had brain surgery or even a lobotomy. _'That might explain a few things.'_

Vincent tossed two pills into his mouth and followed them with the water.

"I hope you don't mind Wutai take-out. Thought it would be the most convenient." Reeve pulled a clear glass bottle and returned the kitchen bar island.

Vincent stared at the medicine bottle and then set it down. "Fine." '_As long it is not the fried rice or that deep-fried dish I had that one time. I am already sick. I do not need anymore help in that department.'_

Reeves took Vincent's glass and poured some of the bottle's contents into it. "Try and drink some of this, it's like drinking a liquid candy cane."

Vincent picked up the glass with suspicion. He sniffed at the clear liquid and then looked at the bottle_. 'Peppermint schnapps?'_ Shrugging, he tasted the liquid. The alcohol hit hard against the soreness of his throat. He winced and swallowed. After the initially pain, it didn't seem so bad, so took another sip until he emptied the glass.

"If you excuse me, I am going to lay down for a while." Vincent already felt his head beginning to swim. Though he was not sure if the medication or the drink or both. Perhaps it was not wise to combine antibiotics and peppermint schnapps; not that he really cared anymore. Tifa and Reeve watched as Vincent lumbered down the hallway and when he reached the back study room, he shut the door.

**Author's Note**:_ I suppose I need to explain a few things. Okay, the lobotomy comment was spawned by a comment I ran into when I was playing FF7. I had Cid talk to Vincent and he makes a comment somewhat like this: " I wish I have your Get-up-and-go attitude. After being asleep for 30 years, I seems I have lost my feelings…"_

_Or something like that, and knowing that Hojo is a sick little twit, I figure I would run with that line and assume one of things that man may have done is messing with Vincent's brain. Or at least that is my spin. Whether anyone else cares for it, doesn't matter much to me._


	4. Chapter 4 Helps build strong bones

**Author's note:**___I would like to thank all those who pointed out my grammar errors. Sometimes I need to have my hand slapped for rushing my editing process. I would like to encourage productive comments like this or similar. All the problems pointed out have been remedied._

**Chapter 4- Helps build strong bones**

Reeve pulled out his thin laptop out on the coffee table that sat out infront of the flat screen television. Tifa sat down on the leather couch waiting as the computer uploaded.

"Now if you want to rebuild 7th heaven, you will require a rebuilding permit, a construction permit, a zoning permit..." Reeve continued to list various permits and licenses that were required by Midgar commercial law. "You are single correct?"

Tifa merely nodded, feeling overwhelmed by the information. Reeve grinned and ran a quite search. "Excellent, there are grants that are offered for single business women. Did you own business insurance?"

Tifa thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Then you should be able to get some money back from your insurance and put that into the initial building fee."

Tifa's stomach began to growl. _'How long will it be before dinner arrives?'_

"Did you also offer boarding?"

Tifa shook her head.

"Good, that would have meant another permit and additional fees. Will you be interested in expanding to a offering boarding?"

Tifa almost growled, but instead forced a smile. "No."

Pulling up the appropriate forms, Reeve hit the print button. A small wireless printer blinked and groaned to life. Reeve looked around trying to remember where he had placed the printer and swallowed.

"Do you think Vincent's a hard sleeper?" Reeve asked.

Tifa rolled her eyes and fell against the couch in exasperation.

The small Cait sith doll pushed the room door open just enough to slide through. He looked up and spotted the futon Osirius looked up from where he was curled up at the edge of the mattress. Trying to not to make a single noise, Cait tiptoed across the floor toward the small desk where the print sat underneath. A large stack of printed forms sat waiting for pick-up.

Cait froze when he heard coughing and movement. Turning slightly, he found that Vincent still seemed to be asleep. The doll turned and continued on it's way to the printer. Finding the paper pile heavy at first, Cait lifted and balanced the stack on his head. Looking back at the futon, the doll once again tiptoed across the rug that covered the wood floor. Cait smiled when he reached the door until his booted foot found a creaking in the floor. Cait froze hoping the gunman would not notice. After a moment, Cait moved again.

A pillow went flying through the air and crashed into the wall nearly missing paper-toting doll. Cait Sith jumped and ran out into the doorway nearly spilling the papers to the floor.

"Boy, is he a grump!" Caith Sith complained as the doll came into the room carrying the papers. Caith approached Tifa and offered the forms to her. She nodded her head in gratitude and sat them down on her lap. "I'm glad he's poor aim when it comes to throwing stuff."

"You're lucky he just threw something." Tifa offered.

Cait Sith sighed. "Yeah."

A soft knock the front door paused conversation. Reeve stood up and approached the door. "I think dinner is ready." He opened the door and paid the delivery boy.

The door creaked open, slowly at first allowing light to cut into the darkness of the room. The figure stood there for a moment, seeming almost hesitant at first. Tifa stood there unsure if she wanted to enter the room. Cait stood at her feet and looked up and shrugged.

"Vincent?"

At first there wasn't any response. Tifa was about to call his name again when his head rose up slightly. Or at least that was what Tifa assumed when she caught the red reflection of Vincent's eyes in the room. Okay, she had his attention.

"There is food if you are hungry." She offered. The eyes narrowed and then disappeared as the man dropped back down against the futon. Tifa left the room and made her way back to the kitchen bar where the take-out food had been laid out.

"I assume that everything went well." Reeve stated as he inspected several of the white take-out cartons.

"Cait is still in one piece." Tifa mentioned as she took a barstool and began filling her plate from the cartons.

The doll came racing down the hallway waving his small paws up in the air. Tifa looked over her shoulder trying to figure out what was going and then she looked over at the hallway. Vincent came walked out, rubbing at his face. Reeve paused with chopsticks in mid motion.

"You better have not tried to dropkick Cait again." Reeve warned.

Vincent sat down on the spare stool and tried to pull his hair back from his face.

"That was not me that kicked Nanaki, that was Cloud." Getting a plate, he pulled back several of the carton flaps, examining the contents inside.

Tifa played with her sticks, unsure what Vincent had meant until it dawned on her. "Oh yeah, Costa Del Sol!"

He ignored Tifa's comment and pour a little of a carton's contents to his plate. Tifa popped a couple pieces of fried meat into her mouth and swallowed.

"Talking about things that shouldn't be talking, Reeve, how do you what you do?"

He paused with a wad of food caught in his sticks. He smirked.

"I would like to say it was a family tradition..." Reeve took a bit of food and chewed on it briefly before swallowing. "But it actually started with crayons."

Tifa blinked. "Crayons?"

Reeve took a drink from his glass. "Yeah, from what I understand, I use to eat them."

Vincent paused in his eating and looked at Reeve. "Special crayons, by chance?"

Reeve waved his hand. "Nah, it wasn't the crayons. I was told when I was little, at a park I had put a bright yellow pebble in my mouth and ate it. My mother waited for it to come out, and well, it never did."

Tifa nearly choked on her food. She took a drink and set her sticks down.

"Are you alright Tifa?"

She started laughing. Tifa had seen too many kids that would play any number of unknown objects into their mouths from the floor, especially when Marlene was younger. She held up her hand and nodded indicating she was fine.

Reeve looked back at his food. "Well I can only assume what I ate was materia, most likely manipulate materia. I cannot think of any other materia producing the same results. Anywho, I didn't start exploring my new talent until high school. I gave my girlfriend a kitty doll and she placed it in her locker. Unfortunately, my plans went south when another, not so pretty girl, stole the doll and placed it in her locker."

"Got more then you bargained for, Reeve?" Vincent mumbled as he picked at his food.

Reeve wound the noodle around his chop sticks." Yeah. That is when I found out that my connection can be cut off when the doll is destroyed." Reeve recalled the day in math class when the gym class had gotten out and people were changing. Not wanting to see that particular girl undress, in his distress told her not to change. All he could assume after finding his cat doll torn apart in the trash that he had made the doll say what he was thinking.

Cait Sith approached Tifa's shoes. One of her shoes had loose laces, which swung around when Tifa moved her feet. The doll initially batted at the laces. Feeling something pulling at the laces, Tifa swung her foot out before resting it on the stool rung. Cait came around on the side and tried to untie the other shoe.

Tifa looked down, quickly growing annoyed at the doll. She swatted at it before returning to her dinner. Cait grinned and went back to the other shoe, and reached to pull at the laces more. Tifa leaned over and grabbed the doll by its throat and yanked it up to eyelevel.

"Look," She eyed the doll. "You have been messing with my shoe laces for the past six months. You will stop." Tifa squeezed and the doll squeaked in response.

"Tifa that's not very nice." Reeve stated as he watched her squeeze the cat doll. Looking at Reeve and then back at the doll, she squeezed again in order to get Cait to squeak. Then the doll giggled. Annoyed, she held the doll at Reeve. "Take it."

Reeve took Cait Sith and examined him. He turned it around and found the zipper had broken. "You broke his zipper! How could you break his cute little zipper?" He held the doll up to face level. "Tifa, how could you do that to something with such cute face like this?" Reeve protested in mock insult.

Vincent's lips twitched as he fought against a smile. Tifa glanced over and grinned. "Better keep that up Reeve, Mr. Lobotomy is about to smile." Gesturing at Vincent.

**Author's notes**: _Now I have an explanation about Cloud kicking Nanaki in Costa Del Sol. When there, there is variety of things going one, one being some form of kick ball. I am sure the reason this is because of the option of being able to kick the ball, but the only place you can kick the ball happens to be the same place where Nanaki is laying. I happened to stumble upon this and kick the feline being, several times. So that is where that came from.(If that makes any sense to anyone, and if you want to try it, let me know if you do.)_

_And about Reeve eating material…well how else can you explain how he does what he does and why Shinra and Hojo would not know about it? Or at least Reeve would make sure they would not know._

_Speaking of the devil, stay tuned for Chapter 5, conversation between Reeve and Vincent and Hojo does the hustle! (Or at least how Reeve helped Hojo get his groove… )_


	5. Chapter 5 How many Scientists

**Chapter 5 – How many scientists does it take….**

Vincent turned his glass around and watched the ripples move from side to side. Tifa had long since fallen asleep on one of the couches with a small pile of scattered papers laying on the coffee table. A question lurked in the back recesses of his mind. Vincent a great deal of questions, but there was in particular that concerned Reeve. He just did not know whether to address. Finally, curious gain the better of him.

"How did you keep Hojo from finding out?"

Reeve shrugged and filled a small mug with coffee. "It was quite simple. Mobile phone."

Vincent blinked. "Mobile phone?"

Reeve nodded. "Mobile phone. When I was talking through Cait Sith, I used my mobile phone."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "I sense there is a little more to that."

Reeve shrugged. "Well, it worked until the silly thing rang in my ear while Hojo was nearby." What made matters ever worse was that the phone vibrated and then let off a high-pitched ring in his ear. "I very nearly escaped that on. After that I kept a good distance between me and Dr. Moreau." Never mind Reeve had to babble something about being late for a meeting to make his way past Hojo.

"You were lucky he did not catch on and lock you in a bottle." Vincent took a drink of his water soothing his tired, sore throat.

Reeve poured some creamer into his drink. "I think he would probe me first and then stick me in a jar." Perfectly mimicking Vincent's voice and tone. Vincent nearly choked on his water in response.

Reeve merely smirked. "Like it? It can really bring the life to a simple office party, I tell you. Though it seems to creep some people out a tad." He reached into his pocket and produced a small yellow materia stone.

Vincent slowly picked it up and examined it.

"It's like mime, but better. Though, don't tell anyone about it."

Vincent looked up at him and handed the materia to him. "You have my word."

Reeve struggled to understand whether it was sarcasm or that Vincent was actually serious. He slipped the stone back into his pocket.

"You would not believe how tempting it was to make that man dance." Reeve stated referring back Hojo. "The way he would shuffle around terrorizing people's assistants, people and their pets. It was hard to resist. Though I kinda felt bad about that one woman's pet Chihuahua. Does Hojo have a thing for dogs or something?"

Vincent shrugged, his eyes still focused on the stone bar top. Reeve looked down at his coffee and grinned.

"I am sure people would have paid good money to see Hojo moonwalk." Reeve glanced up in time to see a brief glimpse of a grin on Vincent's face. He knew for a moment he was amused. "Though I know as soon as I was done, I would be toast. It is so hard to manipulate people and not have them know it."

Vincent's red eyes locked at Reeve's face. "I wouldn't know."

Reeve had completely forgotten about having to manipulate Vincent back the clinic. He let the subject drop.

After a moment of prolonged silence, Reeve finished his coffee and set his mug next to the sink. "Well, I think I am going to call it a night." Running his fingers through his dark hair. He looked back at his friend who remained sitting silently on the barstool. Reeve walked down the hallway and went into his bedroom and shut the door.

Vincent remained seated, his eyes moving up from his glass to the darkness of the now empty kitchen. Blinking, he looked to his right and found the small Cait Sith doll sitting next to him.

"What do you want?" Vincent grumbled.

The doll stood up. "You seem sad."

Vincent narrowed his eyes. "I am not about to confess myself to a talking stuffed animal."

The doll hopped up and down. "But I'm more then that!"

Vincent almost rolled his eyes. Instead he turned his attention back to the kitchen. "Do everyone a favor and check out the garbage compactor. I think it's malfunctioning."

The cat listened. "I don't hear anything."

Vincent tapped the glass with his fingertips. "Perhaps I can help."

The doll went limp for a moment. "Now that's not very nice, Mr. Valentine. That would be considered animal cruelty. "

Vincent sighed. "Since when are you an animal...?" He paused in mid-sentence. "…I am not going to start arguing philosophy with a doll." He pushed himself away from the counter and began to walk down the hallway to the den room. Cait Sith trotted behind the gunman. He slipped past the door as Vincent closed it. There was a growl and the door opened again, this time Cait Sith was thrown against the opposite wall.

"If you try coming in here again, we can find out if you still squeak as I put a few bullets in you." The door shut leaving Cait lying in the hallway. The doll giggled and skipped down back into the main room. There the cat doll took its place on one of the couches near the door.

**Author's note:** _I thought I would keep this chapter short and sweet. The next chapter will begin a new day and more antics when Vincent discovers the wonders of the popcorn button and the pantry door_.


	6. Chapter 6 Good to the last drop

Chapter 6- Good to the last drop 

--------------------------------------------

Groaning, Vincent turned over on his side and pulled the blanket over his head. Voices and the sounds of activity echoed outside his door. Annoyed, he tried to get back to sleep only to have the smell of brewing coffee peak his attention.

"Now, I don't quite understand this part of the form." Tifa gestured to the bottom of the business license. Reeve grabbed it and looked it over.

"It is merely stating that you need to dictate how many people you tend to serve. And that you have proof of a valid liquor license at the time of completion." Reeve handed the form back over.

Tifa frowned briefly. "This is much more complicated then I have last remembered." She rubbed at her bangs.

"I know. I have been trying to clear some of this red tape for a long time, perhaps now that things are changing, I can make a few adjustments." Reeve broke off a piece of his toast and ate it.

"Liquor license form!"

Tifa blinked and looked down at the left and found Caith Sith holding a white form with a pink form attached to the back. Smiling, she thanked the doll and looked it over. Tifa glanced up and waved.

"Good morning!"

Vincent nodded and pulled up a stool to the bar top. He looked around and found they were almost done with their meals. He could smell food and the coffee, but he was not too sure where it was coming from, especially the coffee. _'Where's the coffee pot? '_

"Is there something you are looking for by chance?"

Vincent blinked and looked down. "Something to drink would be nice." He swallowed.

"The meds?" Reeves asked as he walked over to a stainless steel machine near the sink. Vincent looked up and nodded.

"Tastes like I have been sucking on a cotton ball."

Reeve dug around in the cupboard and removed a small box. "I have coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, teas..."

Vincent stood up and walked around. "I do not care much what it is, as long as it is strong."

Reeve handed him the box. The gunman held it with an amount of uncertainty and confusion. How was this supposed to make a drink? He looked inside and found shallow, paper sealed cups. The name of the drink was printed on the bottom. Vincent's brows furled in thought. _'Do I place one of these in a cup?'_ Finding something suitable drink, he pulled it out and placed down next to the designated cup. Reeve stood back and rubbed at his goatee.

"You do know how to use that, don't you?"

Vincent looked over. "Of course, I do. You just pour hot water over this and let it soak?"

It suddenly became clear to Reeve that Vincent did not have a clue about the machine that sat near his elbow. Emptying what was left of his drink, Reeve selected a coffee pouch from the box. Pressing a large flat button on the top of the small machine, he opened the door and dropped the cup pouch inside and pressed the start button. Vincent stood back and crossed his arms. Reeve then slid his mug underneath the spout.

"That is the strangest coffee pot I have ever seen." He commented as the machine began to gurgle.

Reeve smiled. "How long were you in that coffin again?"

Vincent scowled.

Reeve's eyes slid back to the drink maker. "Apparently too long." He mumbled. A small-timer ding sounded the completion. The mug was quickly filled with the instant coffee drink. Removing it from under the spout, Reeve held it up.

"That's how it's done." Almost striking a heroic pose.

Vincent was short of rolling his eyes. "Perhaps I will get something to eat first." He glanced around unsure where to begin his search.

"The pantry is right behind you." Reeve gestured. Vincent turned and found the door. Turning the knob, he found a small room lined with shelves and drawers. The room itself was large enough to allow one to full step inside. Curious, Vincent moved in closer and inspected boxes and canned items available. The door hung open for a moment before slowly swinging shut.

_'Probably should have warned him about that door._' Reeve considered briefly before turning his attention back to the paper he was reading.

Vincent straightened out as the light faded. He turned in time to find the door latching shut. His eyes went wide in panic.

Tifa looked up at the shut door. "Isn't Vincent in there?"

Reeve looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, that door does it all the time. I have yet to remember to get it fixed."

A roar shattered the quiet of the apartment. The door creaked and groaned as something slammed into it from inside of the pantry. Reeve could hear things breaking and shattering.

"We got to let him out of there!" He ran over and taking a deep breath, he threw the door open and slide back into the kitchen as a purple furred beast stormed from the small room. It finally came a stop in the middle of the room. Galian beast sat down on his haunches and looked around in the room as though he had forgotten the reason he had fled. The beast shook releasing purple fur into the air. Reeve glanced down at the pantry floor and balked. More fur lay on the floor and formed a small trail out to where the beast sat sniffing the air. Tifa had moved into the main room hoping to avoid the creature.

"Tifa, throw him a biscuit." Reeve called from the kitchen. Tifa stared at Reeve. She knew better then to make any sudden moves while the beast approached and began to investigate her leg. She looked down and then backs up.

"I don't have anymore. I ran out when we reached Wutai." The beast's nose inched toward her knee. Recalling the same beast dismembering creatures and breaking skulls with it's jaw, she feared if she tried to shoo it away, she may come back with a bloody stump. "Down boy!"

Reeve looked around and found the small can of kitty treats. "Heads up!" He tossed the can over to Tifa. Catching it, she looked it over and shrugged. She opened the top and removed several pieces.

"You've been a good boy?" The beast sat down and looked up at her hand expectantly. "You want this?" He snapped his jaws. Tifa tossed the small cat treat into the air. The beast lurched up and snapped the food with little effort. His red eyes focused on the can that Tifa held.

Reeve came running around the corner and found Tifa flat out on the floor holding the can out as far as she could. But instead of the Galian beast, it was Vincent. Suddenly Vincent realized he was no longer in beast form, he found himself sprawled out over Tifa. Vincent scrambled off and away as fast as he could. Tifa sat up and tossed the cat treats back at Reeve.

"Sorry about that Tifa." Obviously feeling very uncomfortable. However, his attitude changed when he swallowed. "What did you give me?" He tried to swallow again, but found the salty greasy feeling would not go away. Seeing the can, Vincent frowned. "You didn't. Look, the dog biscuits are bad enough, but your cat's food?"

Reeve shrugged. "Not that we had much of an option." He looked back at his pantry and sighed. "Stress shed? I hope you intend to clean up your fur."

Vincent looked away briefly. "My apologies. Apparently I do not react well to small spaces." He was still trying to fight the bad taste in his mouth.

Reeve looked over the large gouges on the inside part of the door. He then rubbed at his goatee in thought. During those last fights before facing Sephiroth, Reeve recalled Vincent transforming into a great dark demon named Chaos. However that was not Chaos that just appeared. "Didn't you use to turn into Chaos?"

Vincent blinked. For the past year, during battles, he would transform into the ever-impulsive demon form. It had been a while since he reverted back to Galian beast. Why did he do so just now? "I do not have an answer to that." He walked over and sat down.

"Maybe because that was not a battle?" Tifa offered as she walked back toward the kitchen.

"Perhaps." Vincent folded his arms. "Why the beast though?"

Everyone fell quiet.

"Who wouldn't like a large, big jawed beast?"

Vincent looked at Reeve. "Funny." His eyes drifted down as he continued in his thoughts.

"Well when was the last times you transformed into Galian?" Tifa inquired. Vincent frowned briefly.

"There were the initial months when I first joined your group. Then, I eventually gained other transformations..." Vincent's voice dropped as he recalled his memories out in the field. "The only times after that...were outside of battle."

"There was that time when you got defensive about the ship with the one guy..." Cait sith piped from below. Vincent looked down and growled. The doll squeaked and hid behind Tifa's leg. "Don't eat me!"

"I don't eat stuffed toys." _'Rather I would like to dismember you one little limb at a time._' Feeling the growing presence of Galian beast in his mind, Vincent knew he best leave his ire for the doll alone before the beast came out to play.

**Author's note**: _I thought with Vincent's transformations, especially Galian and Chaos to treat them as thought they were personifications of his primal impulses, Ids as Freud would call them. Galian beast would cover the basest of the impulses, the basic needs of a given person while Chaos operated on more complex impulses, but the major difference would be that Beast is more easily distracted. _

_I figured the whole acting on impulse thing is yet another remnant of Hojo's sick sense of humor._

_Chapter 7 will be posted shortly. I am working on fixing a few minor things and giving Vincent a well deserved moment of silence with a drink and a soft chair to relax in. _


	7. Chapter 7 Bad boy no biscuit

Chapter 7

"You should really try it again. I think you made a little progress." Reeve stated over his half empty coffee mug. Vincent scowled.

'_If that was your idea of progress.'_ Vincent looked down at the counter and sighed. If he ever wanted to attempt to return to anything resembling the life he once knew, he had to gain control over his transformations. It seemed logical enough to begin with reining in Galian beast.

"I think you could use a little distraction for once." Tifa offered from the couch.

"Anything you had in mind?" Reeve asked, leaning slightly over the counter.

Tifa held up a DVD movie. "I'm thinking maybe a movie."

Reeve smiled. "That sounds great. How about it, Vincent?"

The gunman felt both pairs of eyes settle on him. Fighting the desire to slide down under the furniture, he merely shrugged. "I does not matter much to me." He was left to himself as Reeve and Tifa talked about the movie to be viewed. Vincent struggled to recall the last time he had seen a movie. It then became clear that last time he had seen a movie was a theatre a good six months before was assigned his job at Nibelheim. Then again the last time he recalled a movie, it was on a large black tape. It seemed now that movies were on these small round shiny disks. _'Perhaps it will be nice to have a little visual distraction for once.'_

The small clock on the desk read four in the morning in a bright blue glowing numbers. Vincent's eyes drifted back up at the ceiling and found little comfort in it. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the scene repeat itself in its full gore glory. _'Why did they have to agree on a bad horror movie, especially a werewolf movie?_' What bothered him was that when the young man turned into the wolf, he was trapped on a moving underground train and all the while tearing people into pieces with the scene ending abruptly after blood splattered on the window. _'Why not a good comedy, action film or even a romantic piece, just as long there is a lot of "scenes".'_

Vincent agonized over the concept that a very simpler thing could happen to him if he panicked while enclosed on a moving train or bus. _'The last thing I need is something else to atone for.'_

Tifa and Reeve discussed her plans of heading back to the seventh sector to begin rebuilding now that she had her permits and the loans lined up to work. Tifa mentioned to Reeve that she would remain in close contact with both him and Vincent. Reeve could not help but commend her for the compassion and diligence she had toward her friends. But he had to wonder why she still put up with Cloud's issues.

Caith Sith suddenly came speeding down the hallway taking sanctuary behind Tifa's leg.

Vincent stood at the end of the hallway looked at Reeve and Tifa. Reeve blinked and set his mug down.

"Are you okay? You look like death, well, at least more so then normal."

Vincent only glared at Reeve as to say, _"Eat it and die."_

Tifa tilted her head in concern. "You look like you didn't sleep. Is the beast thing still bothering you, Vincent?"

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "I have to try again."

Tifa gave him a puzzled expression. "Try again? Oh, do you mean transforming into beast?"

Vincent fought a snarl. _'No, I thought I would try to bake a cake.'_ But knew better to be smart mouth to Tifa. He had seen what happened after Cloud said a similar stupid remark. "Of course, Tifa."

She blinked. "Oh." She turned away and looked at the remains of her breakfast. "Good luck and don't try to eat Reeve. I need him"

"Thank you." Vincent grumbled.

Reeve took shelter behind the breakfast counter as Vincent transformed in Galian beast. Cait Sith stood by as emergency distraction of beast decided he did not like Reeve. It was not before Vincent's tall frame was replaced the hulking canine body. Reeve leaned over the counter trying to gain a better view of the miniature behemoth.

The beast sniffed the air smelling the various odors. _'Yeah, that was Tifa and there are kitties...'_ Vincent stopped as the beast turned his attention once seeing Reeve move.

_'Reeve is not food.'_ Vincent prodded the primitive, urge driven animal. _'If I keep the concepts simple, beast will go for it.'_

_'Yeah, Reeve is good. Reeve is food.'_ Vincent cursed realizing his faux pas. _'No, Reeve gives food. Oh boy, we're hungry.'_ The beast snuffled the floor and licked up something from the floor. Vincent winced in disgust. Dissatisfied with the mystery morsel, Galian beast made his way into the kitchen smelling the lingering odors of cooked sausage and butter. The beast gave Reeve a brief sniff before heading straight to where Reeve kept his garbage can. Reeve gave a sigh of relief and stopped short as beast pulled the can over and began snuffling through the contents. Vincent fought with beast trying to stop him from eating the discarded foodstuffs.

Knowing that Vincent would be less then thrilled about the current situation quickly struggled what to do. His eyes settled on the refrigerator. Recalling there was a package of lunchmeat, Reeve slowly inched his way around the beast only earning a warning growl from beast before the tore open the bacon paper, licking with growing zeal. Slowly opening the door, Reeve reached inside and removed the package. The crinkling of plastic caught Beast's attention. His ears swiveled around and then looked up. Smelling the meat, the canine readied himself to pounce the food.

Seeing this, Reeve chucked the package toward an open place in the middle of the floor. The beast leapt over the breakfast counter and caught the packed in his jaws.

_'Reeve! Why didn't you just open the package? No don't eat the plastic...'_ Vincent shuddered as the beast inhaled both the meat and plastic._ 'I hate to think what this is going to do the system.' _Galian beast almost grinned after receiving the meat offering. _'Well, I can't change back now even if I wanted to do. I am afraid what that plastic would do to me. I think it would involve another visit to the doctor and a yet another wacky explanation for why I ate that much plastic... Perhaps I should just let run it's course.' _Vincent thought was beast scratched at his ear. _'Then again, beast is not house trained.'_ He winced at what Galian beast could possibly do_. 'I can't do that to Reeve.'_

Vincent struggled to think of a quick plan before he lost what little control he had over the primal drive of the animal in which he inhabited_. 'Grass! Cats eat grass. But I know Reeve does not have anything like that here.'_ Beast flopped down on the rug near the television and began to scratch his back against the floor. After a moment of self-indulgent rubbing, the beast laid still on the floor.

During the brief moment, Vincent caught sight of a green plant on a side table. _'Yeah, you see that plant. Eat plant. Plant good._' The beast lay down for a moment as his stomach gurgled angrily. It was quickly become apparent the plastic was already having conflicts. Finally after Vincent prodding enough, the beast walked over to the plant and began eating at the leaves.

Reeve came around and found Galian eating on of this plant. Hacking and cough, beast spat some of the partially chewed plant on the floor. _'Thanks Vincent, that was very disgusting. I hope that is the end of that.'_ Then suddenly he realized why beast was eating on the plant. His cats gnawed on the leaves only to vomit elsewhere a short time later. _'Is he doing what I think he's doing?'_

Reeve shuddered at the idea. Beast stopped eating the plant and approached Reeve, giving yet another brief sniff.

'_Yes, that is Reeve. He gives food. '_Vincent reassured._ 'Now let's go to room with big white water bowl.' _The beast looked around the room. Vincent felt beast's focus was beginning to wander away from the idea of giant water bowl. Vincent knew time was limited and he rather trying to maintain what little shred of dignity he had left. Finally beast was persuaded and began walking toward the bathroom. _'Okay, so we are thirsty. Good, go in there, oh god, don't drink out of that!'_ The beast lowered his head into the toilet and began to lap up the water.

Hearing the lapping sound, Reeve did not follow beast into the bathroom.

After a few minutes, the beast moved away from the toilet. _'Look, something smells strange in the tub.' _Vincent suggested. Taking the lead, Galian slowly plodded over to the tub and placed his front legs inside as he sniffed at shampoo bottles. _'Yes, the bottles smell funny. And that is soap...' _Vincent stopped as beast decided to chew on it. _'No, don't eat the soap bar...'_ However, beast had already began to consume the bar and then swallowed. Vincent shuddered_. 'I can't believe you ate that. No biscuit for you.'_

The beast looked around suddenly interested in obtaining a biscuit_. 'No you don't. You stay here. Look, the shiny thing in the tub is really interesting.'_ Vincent was suddenly cut off as the beast began to cough and gag. The plant had done its work. After making a series of gross sounds, the beast finally vomited the contents of his stomach down on the tub floor. Vincent lacked the true motivation to pay attention to what had happened until another urge came to his attention. Vincent quickly became horrified as Galian beast lowered his head and began to sniff the liquid of the partial digested mess. _'No, no you are not going to do that!'_ Just when he thought beast would lick at it, he found himself back in human form only inches away from the beast puke.

Recoiling, Vincent fell back on his butt. Overwhelmed by the sight and horrid smell, Vincent suddenly found himself hanging over the toilet. Reeve appeared in the bathroom doorway.

"You okay?" He sniffed the air and stepped back. _'My word Vincent, that is foul.'_

Vincent did not have the energy to give a snippy response. He instead remained slumped against the side. Reeve looked at the thrashed tub and bathroom and shook his head.

"Can I get you anything? Mouthwash, breath mints?"

Vincent sat up and leaned against the side of the tub. "No."

Reeve nodded and left Vincent alone in the bathroom. Forcing himself to his feet, Vincent went over to the sink and began to brush his teeth and tongue, futilely remove the bad mixture of soap and bile_. 'That was almost as bad as the time they let me eat the ochu. Friends do not let friends eat ochus.'_ He paused in mid-brushing. _'Then again, who would stop beast?' _ Vincent bent over the bathroom sink and rinsed his mouth out.

Reeve knelt down and began trying to clean up the mess Galian beast had left behind. _'These are just things, they can be replaced.'_ He gave a brief look over a broken pot and tossed in into the trashcan. '_One cannot easily replace good friends either'_ Reeve took a long look at the torn up carpet. _'I need to get new friends.'_ He could easily just kick Vincent out and let the man figure it out on his own. However Reeve knew as soon as he did that, there would be something about a massacre on the 6 o'clock news. Vincent needed somewhere safe to get everything straightened out. _'I am such a sucker._'

Hearing movement in the kitchen, Reeve stood up still holding a small dustpan and hand broom to find Vincent pulling a mug from the cabinet and one of the drink packets. Cait Sith walked past Reeve.

The cat doll tiptoed around the corner and watched as Vincent looked over the paper cup before he placed it as he had seen Reeve do. While the machine hummed to life, Vincent stood quiet for a moment before opening another cabinet and removed a clean bottle half-filled with a clear liquid.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Vincent did not pause in his motion and pour a cap full of the liquid into his mug before replacing the bottle in its former place. He then slid the mug under the spout in time to catch the hot mint tea.

"I am going to sit down and have my goddamn tea." Vincent's tone was still flat, but there was a hint of a smile to his face. For a moment, he was amused despite still feeling queasy.

"But what about the stuff you poured in there?"

Vincent picked up his drink and attempted to ignore the doll as he made his way from the kitchen and into the living room. Reeve looked up from the couch.

"Feeling better?"

Vincent shrugged. "I feel like I puked twice." He sat down in the wide arm recliner while he held the warm mug between his hands. The sat in silence for a moment before Reeve sighed and came to his feet.

"I need to leave for a while and take care of some delayed work. I will be back late. You know where the food is. Just make sure that everything is one piece." Reeve advised half in jest and half in seriousness. Vincent nodded and turned his attention to the large glass pane window that displayed the darkening cityscape of Midgar. After hearing the jingle of keys and with his coat swooshing, Reeve left Vincent in the solitude of the apartment.

_'The sunset is nice. It's been a while since I took the time to enjoy it.'_ Vincent allowed himself to relax with his drink. The last time he had taken the time was back with _her_ in Nibelheim. Instead of feeling sorrow, he felt a brief flicker of happiness. He did not question it or push it away instead he let it be.


	8. Chapter 8 A case of the Mondays

Chapter 8 A serious case of the Mondays 

_'I hate Mondays. It's good some things never change_.' Vincent mumbled to himself mentally. In the background he could hear the odd rhythmic pounded along with a mechanical "whine" sound. Vincent was only mildly curious of what produced the sound, but since it did not seem to produce danger, Vincent remained in his bed.

If the initial sound was not enough, another sound came to his ears. This one was even more vague then the first. It was the sound of something vibrating followed by a simple song tune.

Reeve placed his feet on the edge of the treadmill as he answered his cell phone. In his bedroom his pager danced and sung as someone attempted to contact him. Keeping his conversation brief, Reeve finally hung up and jumped back onto the moving conveyer and began to jog. His immediately began to ring, this time he immediately recognized the number as one of the several hired contractors.

"Yes, I know you are busy. Who isn't?"

Vincent listened to Reeve talk on his phone, one conversation after another. Reeve's voice rose up in irritation.

"I don't care if your grandmother is digging the ditch. The agreement was for tomorrow and that is that. There are thousands of people depending on us to return life back to some sort of normal."

Reeve's voice dropped down. It seemed the conversation had ended. Sighing, Vincent relaxed against the pillow and stared at the ceiling. He felt tired.

Reeve's cell phone rang again. The thumping stopped. "Hello mom. How are you doing over there...?"

Vincent rolled over on his side now facing the wall. _'Great, not only does this man have a strange doll fetish, he is also a mama's boy.'_ But before Vincent could continue further, Reeve's voice changed again.

"What mom? I can't hear you...breakin'...up..m..later." Reeve hung up and tossed the phone to the couch.

Vincent could not help but smile. _'Good, I was wrong on the second thing. I could have not done better myself.'_

The strange thumping resumed. Now awake and a little more curious, Vincent crawled out from underneath the blankets and stumbled out toward the main room. There he found Reeve jogging, the curtains drawn back to reveal the pastel colored dawn as the sun rose up from the east.

"Good morning, Vincent." Reeve managed between breathes. "How can you beat a view like this?" He gestured to the window as he checked his pulse monitor on his wrist.

Vincent rubbed at his face and looked at the clock on the all. _'It's only six in the morning? The sun isn't even awake yet.'_

After not hearing a response, Reeve cast a quick glance over to see Vincent's almost confused expression as he stared at the treadmill. Reeve chuckled.

"Is it that strange to you? I use to get up early and go to the work gym, but I found I like to work out at home. Though I do miss meeting with some of the people who also had a similar time routine.

Vincent only made a few guttural responses before pulling up a barstool and sat down, still watching Reeve run on the contraption. _'It's almost like a hamster wheel.'_

"Oh, I will take an extended lunch. We needed to take you shopping and get your some new clothes. What you have will not do." Reeve stated as he jogged.

Vincent's eyes drifted to the ground. _'I am not too sure about that.'_

"How about this?" Tifa held a dress shirt to Vincent's face. He pushed the shirt back.

"Why? I don't like red." Vincent stated flatly.

Cloud smirked. "Ah c'mon, I think it brings out the red in your eyes."

Vincent's face dropped. _'I wish he would have warned me that Tifa and Chocobo head was going to be here. I would have found a way to get out of this._'

Reeve's face wrinkled in confusion. "If you didn't like red, then why were you running around in something like a costume shop reject?"

Vincent shrugged and looked away. "I did not have anything else to wear."

Reeve the shirt one more look before placing it back on the rack. "How come you did not say anything sooner?"

Vincent touched one of the white shirts. _'Because I knew this would happen It becomes an elaborate game of "Let's dress up Vincent." _Instead, he simply shrugged as he diverted his attention elsewhere within the apparel shop.

"I appreciate your charity, Reeve, but I am more then capable of shopping for myself." Vincent's attention lingered on the black dress shirt.

"You are sure about that?"

Vincent sighed and closed his eyes. Reeve smirked and walked off into another direction. He found it was too easy to push the man's buttons. "Very well. I am sure the young gal over there could help you." He winked and disappeared behind a set of posed manikins.

Taking a little delight in the brief moment of solitude, Vincent began thumbing through the racks of shirts and pants. After some frustration and annoyance, Vincent walked out of the shop with a black suit some shirts, pants and other necessities that he lacked.

Leaning against the back of the wooden mall bench, Cloud looked around trying to find something to pass the time. It was obvious the young man was bored. Somehow, knowing this did not bring Vincent much comfort. The last thing they needed was a swordsman with a short attention span.

Cloud sighed and crossed his arms. "Gees, how long is it going to take?" He muttered and glanced at his watch. Vincent remained quiet sitting with his recent purchases. Cloud shifted on his feet while his bright blue eyes looked over the surrounding storefronts with little enthusiasm. "Wanna get something to eat? How 'bout an Orange Julius? It's been a long time since I had one."

Vincent looked over and gave a look of confusion. "Orange Julius?"

Cloud rubbed at his spiked blonde hair. "Dude, you don't know what that is?" Cloud looked genuinely confused by Vincent's lack of familiarity with the mall munchies favorite. Cloud looked around and shrugged in defeat until something else came to mind inspired by the smell of cinnamon.

"I hope to hell you know what a cinnamon bun is right?"

Vincent looked up and narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

Cloud forced a smile. "Good. I think I smell a Cinnabon around here..." The young man sniffed and looked down east hallway of the mall. Cloud looked back at Vincent. "You're absolutely right, Vincent. Enough talk, let's go eat something!" Cloud began to march off into the light crowd of shoppers. Cursing under his breath, Vincent grabbed his bags and followed after the blonde hair. He knew if he did not keep a close eye on the young man, they would never find him again in the three levels of hell.

"You are sure about this, Reeve?"

The man smiled as he placed his hands into his pant pockets. "Absolutely, Tifa. You wear that on the grand opening; there will be no fail. Are you sure I cannot persuade you into updating the style of the bar to bring in some of high-rollers into your place?"

Tifa examined the stuff within her bag. "Nope. I happen to like the vintage style of the place and so do many of the locals. I think if I changed for something that came out of the northern Midgar, I would be hunted down with pitchforks."

Reeve snickered. "Of course. Though I can't see why you can't exploit that for your benefit. I can almost see it now..." Then he stopped seeing an empty bench where he last seen Vincent and Cloud. "Oh dear..."

Tifa pursed her lips. " Vincent's stuff is gone and there isn't any screaming. You can scratch beast off..." The delicious smell of baking cinnamon came to her nose. Tifa sighed. "Cloud."

Realizing he did not have a napkin to wipe his sticky fingers off on, he wiped them on the pant legs. Vincent looked away and watched people walk by with their purchases in one hand and a child in the other. Others walked hand in hand while they walked. Vincent could not help but to feel a ping of loneliness.

"Hey, look lively Mr. Sunshine. How can you mope after having that?" Cloud dropped down in a seat unceremoniously.

"I was not moping." Vincent offered.

Cloud rested his hands on his knees. "Like hell you were. I know mope when I see one. This is a mall! Ah gees, Vincent why do you have to be such a downer?"

Vincent blinked and looked over confused by the term. _'Downer?_' "Someone has to be a realist in your happy world of fuzzy chocobos."

Cloud almost laughed. "Fuzzy Chocobos?...wait." Cloud thought for a moment. "You weren't trying to be funny like haha funny were you? Man...that's not nice."

_'Does it even hit your thick skull that I have little love for crowds, Cloud?_' Vincent thought. It was not that he actually hated Cloud, but Vincent did not necessarily love the swordsman either. '_If I ever need someone who can bludgeon something to a pulp with a nailbat, Cloud would be the one to call._' All Vincent really cared to do was to go back home. Being in such a place made him feel nervous and uncomfortable. That in turn made beast feel the same.

Cloud sensed the growing tension and knew he needed to distract the brooding man. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask for your help on something."

"My help?" Vincent almost laughed. _'Sure if you have someone you need plugged or something I can use as a chew toy, I would certainly be your man.'_

Cloud leaned back in the metal chair and placed his hands against the back of his head. "Yeah. I picked up some extra Gil lately and I want to get something nice for Tifa. I thought about asking Barrett, but I think he would spill the beans to her before I could give it... Talked to Cid and he told me something with lace and small straps, removable straps...but I want to get something real nice for her. She's been good to me, Vincent."

Vincent was quiet for a moment while he played with the plastic handles of his bags. "What makes you think I have any opinion that would be of use to you?"

Cloud scratched at his head. "I dunno there is this whole thing you had with Lucrecia. I mean you look like you know how to pick out something...well...classy? And that you probably have more experience with this whole women stuff then me..." Cloud placed suddenly with the small metal chain that connected his wallet to his belt.

Vincent blinked and nearly snorted. "What? I never got a chance to..." Vincent stopped. "Since when have my romantic involvements become the topic of the conversation?"

Cloud opened and shut his mouth. "Fine, will you help me though? I'm kinda clueless."

Vincent almost clapped, but controlled the impulse. "Of course..."

Before Vincent could say more, Cloud had already stood up and began to make his way back into the slow moving flow of people. Making sure to grab his bags, Vincent followed after him.

Tifa ran up to the small seating area near the Cinnabon booth and only found a young woman seated with a small child.

"Excuse me, did you by chance see a young man about this tall with spiky blonde hair and a taller man dressed in black with red eyes?"

The woman shook her head as she held the small drink cup to the girl. Tifa rubbed at her neck with one hand while another rested on her hip. Cloud was nowhere to be found near the food booths or the food court. _'Where is that fool? Not that Cloud can't take care of himself; I am just worried about the companion he is dragging with him. I am just waiting to hear the screaming and see a very large purple monster charging down the corridors.'_ Tifa shook her head. Reeve walked away from the counter carrying two small cartons. Tifa looked at him in exacerbation.

"Don't worry, I thought we could at least grab something quick to eat." Reeve held the second carton out to her. Allowing herself to smile, they sat down briefly and ate.

Cloud stopped at the first jewelry store they came upon and slid inside toward the glass counters. "I can't fail with something pretty like a necklace right?" Cloud asked eagerly as he sought out approval.

Vincent just nodded. Cloud made his way over to the other end of the story while Vincent lingered near the entrance of the store. The place suddenly felt very small. _'I should not be doing this. It's too soon yet, I can feel it.'_ Vincent coughed. '_Did I neglect my medication again?_' He made a note to take it when they got back.

His eyes drifted down to the counter near him that held a large display of various men's watches. _'Those are nice. Perhaps not the gold one with the diamonds, but that steel colored one is quite nice.'_

"Hey, do you think she would like this?"

Vincent turned to find Cloud holding the necklace up to his neck. Cloud frowned seeing Vincent's expression.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Too much." Cloud turned around and returned the necklace. "Oh sweet! Check this out. They have a tiara that is almost like the one I had to wear. And ya know what? I think I still have the dress laying around somewhere." Two of the floor clerks looked over at Cloud. Vincent edged away trying to make as much distance as possible between him and the swordsman.

Cloud marveled over the small black velvet box before slipping it back into his jacket pocket. "Hope Tifa likes it."

"I am sure she will." Vincent offered passively as he walked quietly nearby. "Speaking of her, perhaps we should go back..." Vincent stopped realizing that Cloud had disappeared. He searched the crowd until he saw a brief flash of blonde hair before it vanished behind the hanging wooden sign of the weapon shop. Growing ever more tired and annoyed, Vincent backtracked and ducked into the store with the intention of dragging Cloud by the collar until his eyes fell upon the display of various guns. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, he paused looked down into the case.

Tifa pulled out her cell phone and attempted to call Cloud, but all she managed to get was his voice message. Frowning, she closed her phone and placed it into her small shoulder bag. "Cloud must have either turned his phone or he is distracted."

"I would put my money on the distraction." Reeve jested. Tifa rolled her eyes as she continued to scan the crowds hoping to either spot Vincent or his spiky hair counterpart. But she failed to see either. Feeling frustrated, they paused infront of a jewelry store. She turned and saw the earring display and smiled.

"Those are so beautiful." Tifa after while sighed and turned away. "Some things are not meant to be." She glanced at her watch and frowned. "Cloud, we need to get going." She mumbled.

Reeve glanced at his watched and cursed. "I hate to leave you to Mr. Clueless and Mr. Sunshine, but I have a client I need to meet with in ten minutes." Reeve turned away and started toward the direction of the nearest exit. He turned briefly and made a hand gesture near his ear and mouthed, "call me". Tifa laughed and turned away. Cracking her knuckles, Tifa began to screen the storefronts with more determination then before. Cloud had to be somewhere and she would find him.


	9. Chapter 9 Yesterday came suddenly

Chapter 9 – Yesterday came suddenly 

**------------------------------**

After inspecting several swords, Cloud glanced up and found Vincent inspecting a long barreled revolver seeming completely oblivious to the marketing spiel the woman shop attendant rattled. Vincent spun the barrel around and flicked it back into place. After a few hushed words, the attendant ducked into the backroom only to return with a small box of shells. Vincent gently placed the revolver back on the display mat and picked up one of the bullets.

"This is actually materia imbedded into this?"

The attendant nodded and began to explain the process and the different types materia provided and group sets one could purchase. Suddenly he placed the bullet back and turned away thanking the attendant. Curious, Cloud approached Vincent.

"So?"

Vincent glanced sideways briefly. "So? What do you mean by "so"?"

Cloud glanced over at the woman and wiggled his fingers at the woman as they left the store. "What do you think of her? She's cute."

"The ammo was overpriced." Vincent stepped out into the crowd ignoring Cloud's initial question. Feeling thwarted, the swordsman kept pace with the gunman.

"I guess that was none of my business." Cloud apologized.

Vincent offered no evidence of his thoughts. "If you like her, why don't you talk to her."

Cloud frowned. "But I don't…I mean she was nice looking. There is nothing hotter then seeing a woman who knows her weapons." He fumbled with his words. "But I think she wasn't quite my type. A little too quiet and I think Tifa would club me if she caught me chatting her up."

Vincent smirked briefly at the thought of Tifa smacking Cloud upside the head with newspaper. Apparently it was quite a sight when Aeris gained the group. Tifa did not care much for the competition.

"Cloud!"

The blonde haired man froze in mid-step hearing his name shouted from behind. Turning, he found Tifa running up to meet him. "I've been all over looking for both of you."

Cloud rubbed at his head self-consciously. "Well, we didn't really go all that far."

Tifa crossed her arms, as she looked him over. "Where's your cell phone?"

Cloud blinked seeming confused by her question. He began to pat himself trying to find the telltale bulge of the device. "I had it only a short while ago...it's here somewhere."

Tifa sighed and looked over at Vincent. "Reeve wanted me to let you know that he had to meet with a client."

Vincent nodded. That meant two things: one he would have the apartment to himself for a while and two, he was out a ride back to the Reeve's apartment building.

Tifa looked at her watch and pursed her lips. "Cloud, we're going to be late."

Vincent looked around, suddenly eager to leave the structure. "Perhaps I should leave you two to complete your errands."

Tifa reached out and grabbed his shirtsleeve. "No wait. We should at least give you a ride back to Reeve's place."

Cloud stared at her. "But we rode the motorcycle over here."

Tifa dropped her hand and held it out to Cloud. Blinking, it took him a moment to realize what the gesture meant. Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out a couple pieces of gil.

"There's a train station two blocks from here. It will take right next to Reeve's place. Let Reeve know what Cloud and I will dropping by later this evening." Tifa grabbed Vincent's hand and shoved the Gil into it. Finding he did not want to argue with her, he bowed his head in gratitude and left Tifa and Cloud.

The sky was dark with late afternoon clouds. The air smelled of car soot and the coming rainstorm. Hoping he could beat the storm, Vincent raced to the train and boarded the entrance. He found the money feeder and paused. There were two slots, one for money and the other for ID. _'ID? What on earth do they need my ID for?_'

"Sir, we are about to depart. Please deposit your money and scan your ID." The small speaker ordered. Beyond the speaker were a transparent wall and the train operator.

Vincent fumbled with his parcels in confusion. "What if I don't have the ID?"

The operator offered little condolences. " No ID, no ride."

Vincent frowned. "But I can pay the fare."

The operator gestured to the sign just above Vincent's eyelevel. His red eyes scanned the letters allowing his frown to grow deeper. "Have fare and ID ready upon boarding. No exceptions. It is of utmost importance to Midgar's protection from Terrorists that this be abided. Thank you."

"Indeed." Picking his bags up, Vincent stepped off the train to the loading platform and watched it whirl away down the tracks. It never came to his attention the lack of identification would keep him from using many of the public services, primarily the public transit system. _'Damn terrorists_.' In the next breath, Vincent realized at one point he had participated with a group of terrorists. Though his mild amusment was short lived realizing if he did not want to be caught in the coming rain, he had to begin walking the 20 blocks back to Reeve's place.

Even if he could regain his ID, he would still trigger attention because his birth date and the current date. One may claim he does not a look a day past 27 and yet he should be gray with a cane. _'Science can do a great deal to prolong youthful appearance_.' Vincent could not help but to wonder if he needed a new identity to cover his genetic alterations. _'Why be so gentle, you are a freak and everyone knows it.'_

Reeve opened the door that led into the darkness parts of the storage facility. Once the door was opened, he reached in to the wall next to him and felt for the light switching. Flipping up, he waited for the florescent lights to slowly flicker. Instead he only had darkness. Annoyed, he hit his fist on the wall twice. A familiar hum rose to his ears as the lights began to glow. _'Ah, so that does work_.' Reeve thought to himself.

Vincent walked in after Reeve and scanned the towering metal shelves that were filled with cardboard file boxes each seemed to have a date and name written on the outside.

"Thankfully, this place was built in one of the older sectors of Midgar and was unharmed by Meteor. Back in those days, they knew how to build things. The past five years I am having to clean up the cheap contracting and even cheaper supplies they used to build with." Reeve paused infront one isle as he looked over several boxes. "No one builds with actual plywood anymore. Now it's this cheap particleboard stuff that when wet you could sneeze on it and it would crumble. Never mind they also cut corners and used recycled scrap metal for plate supports." He pulled one box out and looked at the contents. "And people wonder why half of Midgar was in shambles. If they only listened to me and the that geologist...what was his name." Reeve examined a file briefly before sliding it back into place. "Oh yeah, funny thing, Dale Ore was his name. Heh, get it, a geologist named Ore."

Vincent stood back and crossed his arms casually. Reeve glanced over his shoulder and did not find Vincent laughing. Reeve cleared his throat.

"Boy, you are a serious joke killer aren't you. I will remember that whenever a party comes up." Reeve pushed the box back and dusted his hands off. "Well, I think your records should be here somewhere, it's about the right archaic time, but I think we need to go toward the east side of the building."

Vincent followed silent only taking a casual observation of the dark, dusty shelves and their files and records. After mentioning the train incident to Reeve, the man was convinced that Vincent's records were still lying around and could easily help him reinstate his identity so he can get the ID card that was so often required to access anything public in Midgar.

Back in a far corner were stacks of deteriorating boxes and shelves. Reeve rubbed at his goatee seeing the despairing sight. "Sephiroth must have been here at some point. No one knew better to leave a mess then him. " He picked up an upturned box and explained the remaining contents. "Wonder if he found whatever he was looking for."

Cait Sith jumped down and scrambled over to another opened file box and peered inside. "This looks like it's it!" The doll upturned and fell inside. "Uh oh! Help."

Vincent looked toward the squealing cat doll and where Reeve stood. He could not help but feel a little disturbed by the antics. '_He has far too much time on his hands_.' Vinent attempted to reason. '_Though I suppose it is no worse then people talking to themselves while working.'_

Walking over, Vincent lowered himself down to a set of boxes and lifted the lid. The first boxes contained a few folders. Picking one up, he opened it. Inside was the fading print of a meeting agenda for a science board meeting followed by a sign-in sheet. He immediately recognized two names, one being Gast and the other being Hojo. Snorting, he closed the half-empty file and dropped it back into the box. Finding nothing else that concerned his initial goal, Vincent went to another box and found it filled with aging manila folders with names on the tabs, surname name first. Vincent plucked up one and looked over the name. _'This is Frank's file. It seems like just yesterday.'_ Vincent opened the file and read over the contents and frowned. There was a small line that stated the date of which Frank died. _'He's dead?'_ Almost seeming surprised by the information. '_I wonder what happened to his family, especially his little boy? Hope they are fine.'_

Closing the file, Vincent replaced it and removed another and opened it. Sam was known for being one of the most elusive Turks during his service. Frank stated that everyone had seen Sam, but would have never known it.

Opening the file, he found the photo of the man. _'That's Sam? I would have never guessed.'_ The man was fashioned in a pin-stripe suit and his short dark hair was slicked back from his face. Replacing the file, Vincent continued to look over the old records of the people he had one point in his life worked so closely with. _'Hank the Tank...hit by a train_.' Vincent mentally winced at the idea and reverently replaced Hank's file.

Eventually he reached back of the box and found the name Valentine in red ink. Looking around, he opened his file and looked over it. Stamped in red letters across the top, he was last marked M.I.A. His red eyes lingered on his rookie photo while part of him almost mourned. _'I was so young then and did not even have a clue.'_ Vincent's eyes lingered on the old mug shot. '_I guess Frank's boy had a point. I do look a little constipated._' Vincent stared at his file for a while before realizing that he probably should inform Reeve that he found his records.

Reeve led them from storage to the 67th floor to where the Accounting department was located. Reeve opened the glass front door and approached the front desk. A woman looked up from her flat screen monitor and smiled.

"Oh Mr. Tuesti, what brings you here this morning?" She piped.

Reeve leaned on the counter holding out a folder to her. "I need to have someone reinstated in the payroll system."

Her primed eyebrows knitted together. "Reinstated, sir?" She looked at the file and looked the contents, which only made her look even more confused. "He was never placed into the first data system upgrade, sir. I will have to enter everything new. Do you mind the wait?" She asked.

Reeve smiled. "I have time."

She nodded and began to enter the data and stopped. "Good heavens sir, this man should be retired and receiving pension. I know we are hurting for employable Turks, do you think this is necessary? Why isn't he receiving pension? Turks rarely live long enough to even consider retirement."

Reeve shrugged. "He is good at what he does. Just enter him in, please."

"Of course." She continued typing. Vincent stood a short distance back. He looked over the various photos of the city both past and present. _'So much has changed since then. Plates were not even installed yet when I left for Nibelheim.'_

"Was Mr. Valentine paid a special rate for his work at Nibelheim?"

Reeve shook his head. "Special rate? I don't think so."

The woman continued her data entry into the computer system. "Okay Mr. Tuesti, Mr. Valentine is now in the current database. You will need to go over to the HR department to pick up his paychecks." Reeve thanked the woman and taking the file with him.

'_Pay checks?'_ Vincent questioned as they left the office. "You mean they are going still pay me for that? Nothing could ever make up for what happened..." Vincent's voice dropped off as they approached the elevator.

"And why not? Though I doubt they will reimburse for being locked up one of their scientists. Perhaps I can work on some policy."

"You do that, Reeve."

The woman watched the two men leave the department office. Another person looked over her cubical wall. "Who was the man with Mr. Tuesti? He's kinda cute, though I am not too sure about the eyes."

"I don't know. Maybe that was Mr. Tuesti's assistant."

"Quite the assistant." The other woman dropped back down behind the wall.

Reeve pressed the round button printed with a "65" on it. Why Shinra could have not spent a little more thought in where they placed departments, everything would be more streamlined. Though it did not matter, as it would not change his feelings about not wanting to go into the department of Human resources. _'Let's just make this quick.'_

"So it seems you will have a little income after all. Do you remember your bank by chance?"

Vincent's eyes shifted from the overhead light up display of the floor numbers.

"I used the bank that was near my apartment."

"And where was your apartment?"

Vincent fell quiet for a moment before answering. "It was in North-East on some street named after a tree. I think it was either Ash or Aspen."

Reeve blinked feeling suddenly confused. _'What was this man talking about? There were no such thing as North-East.'_ "Don't you mean..." Reeve stopped. He knew the plates were a fairly recent development within the past what, 30 years. "No sectors?"

Vincent shook his head.

Reeve raced through his mind trying to place what sector would be Northeast? The elevator door opened at the 65th floor. "This could be a little more difficult." Reeve mumbled as they exited past the sliding steel doors. Once they were done with Human Resources, Reeve needed to head back to his office and do a little detective work. Hopefully where Vincent use to live was not split between two sectors.

Vincent found it hard to take his eyes away from the pieces of information in his hands. He held two paychecks. The third piece was information on his dormant bank account after several hours of pulling strings Reeve was able to recover. After spending a short while in the HR department, they went back to Reeve's office and began to slowly reconstruct Vincent's past information. Though there was little trouble with what Vincent could recall, it seemed like only yesterday he wore the Turk's uniform or tended to the dying plant that sat on his kitchen counter. It was only yesterday he was assigned without a partner to Nibelheim.

"So how does it feel to be a paid for your work?" Reeve finally asked as he steered his car through the busy, lit streets of Midgar.

Vincent was not sure what to say. It was nice to know he had Gil now, but at the same time it felt it belong to someone else. It was strange and yet it was not. Reeve glanced over at his friend and smiled.

"Oh, I almost forgot. There is something I wanted to show you." Reeve reached into his pocket and removed a folded piece of paper from his pocket. Taking it, Vincent opened it and found it was an ad of color contacts.

"My eyes are fine." Vincent stated simply. Reeve chuckled.

"These are not to correct poor vision. These are what are known as vanity contacts. You can have any color possible from purple and brown."

Vincent blinked. "I can have brown?" _'I can have my original eye color with these contacts?'_

"Well, of course. But consider the possibilities of the different shades of blue and green. With that hair color, blue would certainly catch a lady's eyes."

"But I want brown." Vincent stated again, but with more conviction. Reeve turned the car into a narrow driveway that went into a underground parking garage.

"And people say I need to live a little." Reeve muttered.

Vincent looked down at the papers and felt a mild twinge of success. He was now able to get his ID and be on his way. He would be able to go home again, or at least rent a new home. _'Home would be nice, my own bed and not someone futon.'_ He had all the vital information he needed in order to achieve the ID, including the pay stub. _'They are still willing to pay me what I earned as a Turk.'_ Then suddenly as thought someone turned on a light in a dark room, it dawned on him. Reeve had placed him back into the payroll system, that only meant now he was working under Shinra again, without even consulting him about it. Reeve had underhandedly snuck Vincent into working for him without Vincent being fully aware of it until now.

_'Reeve, you are such a shyster.'_ As though he could know what Vincent's thoughts, Reeve smiled.

--------

**_Author's Note:_** _I know this is not the nearly the same "haha" as the past chapters, but I was not going to force it either. I have also dropped a few easter eggs in there for those who read "When the Sun Sets in Ardea". I will probably bring Frank up again for those who haven't. Within the next couple of chapters, Vincent will brave the crowds once more to go down to Midgar's equivalent to the DMV for his ID card. Stay tuned for more beast antics._


	10. Chapter 10 C:DOS run

Chapter 10- C/DOS run 

**----------------------------------------**

Vincent stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. The man he saw was not one he was familiar with. He reached up and brushed the long strands of black hair from his face and sighed. He was a long way from what he was not too long ago.

His eyes drifted down to the small box rested between his hand and the counter. _'They will change you eye color and even cut down the reflection_.' He looked back up briefly catching the eerie flash of red from the bathroom light. Something else caught his attention. His hand drifted from the contact box to his face. Just above his left eye and under his brow was a small scar; much similar to the needle scars on his forearm. Pulling at his eyes lid he attempted to examine the scar closer. '_They weren't joking about that were they. What did you do Hojo?' _

Releasing an exasperated sigh, Vincent realized there was a great deal that he did not know about himself. He had only begun an attempt to gain some control over beast with some success. Knowing he had to do something, Vincent left the bathroom and walked into the main room where Reeve kept his laptop on a small desk. Taking a seat down in front of it, he recalled how Reeve slid a switch to open the top and reveal a flat screen. Vincent opened and looked over the keyboard and various other buttons. _'How do I turn this silly contraption on?'_ His hand wavering, he sought out a button that resembled anything that would resort power to the computer. Finding a suitable button, he pressed it and the laptop hummed to life with Shinra's company logo flashing across the screen briefly. _'Good, it is on._' Reeve had used his computer to pull up information from a network database. Perhaps he could find out more about this scar he had just above his eye.

The computer that sat before him looked alien to the one he was familiar with. Instead of monochrome, there were bright colors and strange small pictures appearing long the left side of the screen. Vincent rubbed at his jaw in thought. _'Now what? Do I just start typing?'_

"You look lost." A small voice state from below. Vincent's eyes slid over to find Cait Sith stand next to the chair. "Ever used a computer before?"

Vincent frowned. "Of course I have." _'But apparently not in a long time. It seems technology has change since the last time I have used it.'_

"Let me help!" Caith Sith stated eagerly. Vincent groaned knowing he did not stand a chance arguing against the doll. He was dealing with something he did not have a clue where to start. The doll started playing with a small black egg shaped piece of plastic that was attached to a cord.

"What are you doing?" Vincent asked.

Caith Sith stopped. "Just moving the mouse."

Vincent suddenly looked perplexed. "Why on earth do you want to move a rodent? The only thing I see is an obnoxious cat."

Cait Sith slouched. "I thought you wanted help." Vincent looked away.

"What will moving that have to do with anything? I thought you needed to type in the program command. But this is presupposing I don't need to type in echo first so I can see what I am typing..."

Caith sith rubbed at its head. "Wait...I don't get it. Typing in commands? Echo? No, this is much easier. Never had to type in commands. Watch!" Cait Sith moved the mouse around so the cursor followed a simple pattern. "See the white arrow, that's the cursor. You need to move that over the phone icon."

Vincent watched as Caith Sith nudged the mouse toward Vincent's hand. Taking it with great reservation, he began to move the mouse but found he had little control over where the cursor went. Cait Sith hit its face in the paws. Vincent was far from having good hand-eye coordination. Vincent had been trained to kill without the chance of being seen and had taken down Sephiroth, but it seemed the simple task of using Reeve's computer was quickly getting the best of the gunman.

After slowly dragging the mouse across the desk, Vincent finally got the mouse cursor of the icon. At least he understood the concept of the icon. '_Fine, wonderful.'_

"Now what?" He looked over at the doll. Cait Sith shook its head.

"Well silly, you double-click on it."

Vincent's eyes drifted from the doll to the screen and stared at it for a while. "Why do I have to click on it?" Vincent recalled the brief time he spent down at the supermarket and the express lane Reeve took. There was no salesclerk scanning items, instead there was a scanner and a computer monitor with large colored button images. Vincent was baffled to see all that had to be done was to scan the item and then touch the screen. _'What is so different from that screen and this screen?_' Vincent reached up and poked at the screen with no response except from color ripples from the pressure of his finger. Back in his office, Reeve nearly hit his head on the desk in frustration.

"No no! Click with the mouse." Cait Sith corrected not realizing what Vincent was thinking. Vincent growled and placed his hand back on the mouse. He hit the left button first and got a small tan colored menu. Vincent's eyes narrowed and he clicked the button again and got the menu once again.

"How do I get rid of that? I don't need it."

Cait Sith sat down. "Double click with the right button."

Vincent hit the button once and then twice with the same mount of speed. But all he managed to do was to highlight the icon. Vincent growled. Beast was getting bored and frustrated. He was getting frustrated.

"Going to get coffee." Vincent stood up and left the computer and walked into the kitchen. At least he knew he could make drink when he wanted it.

"Well so much for patience." Cait Sith stated in reflection. The doll looked at the screen and slumped. "Wonder why he wants to use it?" Curious, Cait Sith hopped down from the desk and skipped into the kitchen and hopped up on the counter. "Why do you need to use the computer, Vincent? Are you looking something up?"

Vincent shot a quick glare at the doll before returning his attention back to the drink maker. "Actually I was wanting to look up how to dispose of annoying, furry pests. Especially ones that wear fake crowns and red capes."

The doll rubbed at its chin, much as Reeve did out of habit. "Now that's not nice. I'm just trying to help."

Vincent did not say a word as he pulled his cup from the spout now filled with steaming coffee. "I think you help far too well. Perhaps next time you can help beast with something."

Caith Sith crossed its arms. "I'm not playing squeak toy."

Vincent returned to the computer and sat down. "I did not suggest that at all. But now that you mention it..."

Cait Sith dropped down from the counter and ran over to the computer. "If you want to know how to use that, I suggest you find another toy for beast."

Vincent sighed. "Very well."

After a while, Vincent finally clicked fast enough to open the program. A window opened with an inset bar and in large bright print above it read "Moogle". Cait Sith directed Vincent to click in the inset and type whatever he wanted to look up. Pecking in the letters with two fingers, he slowly typed out "scar, left eye" into the inset and stopped. Seeing a button he assumed he needed to click on it. Once the cursor was over the button, he clicked twice not realizing clicking once would have been sufficient. Thinking it would take a while; Vincent began to make himself comfortable when the window suddenly changed displayed what was titled "results of your search" at the top of the window. Vincent only sat three choices in the window and did not understand he had to "scroll" down further to see the remaining options.

"What? Only three? What is the numbers referring to?" Vincent inquired sounded more then a tad confused.

Cait Sith sighed. "Do you see the two arrows on the right side of the window, one that points up and the other that points down?"

Vincent scanned the screen finally finding what the doll had mentioned. Vincent nodded.

"Yes, what of them?"

"See the bar like thing between them, you move your cursor over the bar and move the bar to see more stuff."

Following the dolls directions, he moved the bar revealing more selections.

"Wait, click on that one!" Cait Sith touched the screen directing Vincent to click. Moving the cursor over, he attempted to click on the summary text and got nothing. "Try clicking on the blue unlined sentence above it." Vincent moved the cursor and clicked.

The window changed replacing the previous window with text and a title reading "history and practice of lobotomy". Cait Sith tried leaned closer to the screen trying to see what Vincent was looking at. The red-eyed gun peered at the doll short of snarling at it.

"This is where you say, "_Glad I could help you Vincent. Let me know if you need anything"_ and leave."

Cait Sith slouched. "But I want to read too!" The doll pouted.

"How about I help you read yesterday's paper from the trash can?"

"But the newspapers are recycled..."

Vincent growled.

Cait Sith yelped and ran away from the desk clearing the room. Vincent sat back and feeling satisfied and began to read over the information.

-----------------

Vincent looked over the remote control with a small amount of confusion and contempt. Finding the bright read button, he turned the television on. At least he knew how to work a remote. Finding the channel buttons, he switched from one channel to another. Though it quickly became apparent there were more then the 13 channels he was use to seeing on a small black and white television set that he kept in his apartment when he was in the Turks. Though, it only had a turn dial and rabbit ears to pick up the more elusive channels.

What he saw now were bright colors and clear images. Expansive landscapes and mountain ranges soared across the screen as a narrative directed the panning camera. Losing interest, Vincent changed to another channel where some man in a dress shirt and suspenders drabbled on in a thick accent while mixing ingredients into a large white bowl. Still disinterested, Vincent changed the channel again.

'I know I should be more distracted and upset now knowing that Hojo rewired my brain and made sure everyone knew it. He could have been clean and not left a scar, but that is not how Hojo works. He wanted to make sure everyone knew it was his work and no one else's.'

He changed the channels without giving any attention to what he was changing from. Nothing peaked his interest. Nothing. _'Damn you Hojo.'_ The scientist had made sure that Vincent did not feel an ounce of pleasure after the incident with Gast's assistant.

Somewhere in the back of memory he briefly recalled the impression of passing a channel where half-naked women were wrestling in mud. Before Nibelheim, he may have lingered to watch, but now felt absolutely nothing, not even a tingle. Vincent snarled and continued to explore the channels. The sudden present of beast in the back of consciousness caught Vincent off guard for a moment. He did feel one thing: rage. He closed his eyes and sat still for a moment. He had not let beast loose in a while hoping that if he exerted enough will over the transformation, that it would simply just go away. Instead, it created a growing sense of urgency and impatience. Brushing beast away from the forefront of his thoughts Vincent forced himself to focus on the screen where he paused on one channel where three people stood talking. Vincent's thumb twitched, but he did not change the channel.

"Oh my god, John! I thought you were dead."

"I am here, am I not?"

"Harold put the gun down, please?"

"I thought the first time I shot you, you were dead. This time I won't make the same mistake."

"Perhaps next time, just don't shove me in a coffin in the backroom."

"Oh John!"

Vincent's eye twitched at the dialogue and poor quality acting. Beyond the fluff and overdramatic behavior, there was a ring to of truth. Not some much that the same show and characters had once played across the television screen in the break room at Shinra when he was of the Turks, but that his life had suddenly at one point turned into a soap opera. At first he thought someone stole his life and put it to bad acting until he realized how silly that seemed. Instead he came to a much simpler conclusion.

_'My life is a horrible B-rated soap opera.'_ He did not even feel anger at the results of his thoughts. Vincent stood up and left the room leaving the television on while he stepped into the kitchen. He was hungry, but he was not sure in particular. After investigating the refrigerator unsuccessfully, Vincent made his way to the pantry. He fought the sudden surge of panic when his eyes settled on the front side of the door.

_'This time I will make sure to prop the door open.'_ Vincent reassured himself as he reached for the doorknob. He hand lingered for a moment as he fought beast's primal reaction to swipe at the door and run away. Clenching his jaw, he closed his eyes and flung the door open and stood still. Nothing happened. Opening one eye, he looked inside and found everything was stacked in order on the shelves. Suddenly, he realized what he wanted. Vincent looked around for the glass jar of corn kernels and a popping machine, but did not see either. Then he sought out the small aluminum handled pan that one would place over the oven burner and cook popcorn that way.

Instead all Vincent found was a small red box with the title "Midgar Movietime Popcorn". Opening the box, he found plastic wrapped packets with bright yellow and red graphics. Both confused and curious, Vincent pulled one of the packets and examined it closely. One side he found written instructions how to cook the packet.

_'Place bag in microwave for 3 minutes or press the popcorn button.'_ He looked over the packet as he moved toward the small white microwave. The thought of cooking popcorn in the microwave baffled the man. He had burned several meals before he forgot to rotate the tray during the cooking process. Pressing the opening button, he found a small glass dish in the middle. Vincent touched the dish and wiggled it. _'Did Reeve forget to take that out? That doesn't seem to make much sense. Reeve is immaculate about where everything goes. He just don't leave stuff laying around for nothing.'_ Vincent removed the plastic wrapping and placed the packet arrow up and closed the door. He then looked over the buttons. He quickly found one that was named "popcorn". Vincent pressed it and the microwave buzzed to life. Vincent stood infront of the machine and watched the packet slowly spin around on the dish. _'I suppose it was good thing I did not remove the dish_.' He mused. Soon the sound of popping and the smell of salt and butter filled the air of the large apartment flat.

"Ya know you don't have to stand there and watch it. It will pop just fine if you didn't"

Vincent looked over at the seated image of the Reeve's cat doll. He frowned briefly before returning his attention back to the microwave.

"How about I throw you in there and see if you pop if I did not watch?"

Cait Sith crossed its arms. "Sounds like someone needs a happy pill."

"Who needs a happy pill when I can use you as a squeak toy." Vincent mumbled waiting eagerly for the popcorn to finish.

"I don't have to take such abuse from a house a guest."

"Then why are you still sitting there?" Vincent asked suddenly feeling mischievous. Beast was also very interested in playing, but Vincent pushed the impulse aside. He had done well enough without beast so far; he was not about to indulge in such behavior. Not when buttery popcorn would taste better.

-------------

**Author's note**: _I really ought to make a gesture to the help I get with writing these chapters. Many of these ideas develop from conversations I have with my roommate. It's kinda like playing racquetball, but with characters instead of balls. You can see her work, she is known as Randomality on Fanfiction. I would encourage you read her work, since it is just as amusing is not more so. Anyways enough with the shameless plugging for now_.


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